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What is CVE-2022-3602?A high-severity flaw in OpenSSL, explained.

High severity4 affected products
The short answer

CVE-2022-3602 is a high-severity flaw (CVSS 7.5) in OpenSSL, published on 1 November 2022. It is not on the list of flaws known to be exploited today. The latest forecast puts its chance of use in the next 30 days at 91%. If you run an affected version, plan in the vendor’s fix.

Check if it affects you →How to fix it

Published 1 November 2022. Record last updated 4 November 2025. We keep this page's data up to date.

What it does

What is CVE-2022-3602? In plain terms.

It can be attacked from anywhere on the internet without logging in, and nobody has to click anything. If it works, the attacker can take it offline.

The official description

A buffer overrun can be triggered in X.509 certificate verification, specifically in name constraint checking. Note that this occurs after certificate chain signature verification and requires either a CA to have signed the malicious certificate or for the application to continue certificate verification despite failure to construct a path to a trusted issuer. An attacker can craft a malicious email address to overflow four attacker-controlled bytes on the stack. This buffer overflow could result in a crash (causing a denial of service) or potentially remote code execution. Many platforms implement stack overflow protections which would mitigate against the risk of remote code execution. The risk may be further mitigated based on stack layout for any given platform/compiler. Pre-announcements of CVE-2022-3602 described this issue as CRITICAL. Further analysis based on some of the mitigating factors described above have led this to be downgraded to HIGH. Users are still encouraged to upgrade to a new version as soon as possible. In a TLS client, this can be triggered by connecting to a malicious server. In a TLS server, this can be triggered if the server requests client authentication and a malicious client connects. Fixed in OpenSSL 3.0.7 (Affected 3.0.0,3.0.1,3.0.2,3.0.3,3.0.4,3.0.5,3.0.6).

What kind of flaw is it?

  • CWE-787Out-of-bounds Write
CVSS 3.1 scoreHigh · 7.5

How an attack on it works

Read straight from its severity rating, translated out of the shorthand.

  • Where an attacker can beAnywhere on the internet
  • How hard it is to pull offEasy: no special conditions
  • Login needed firstNo login needed
  • Does someone have to clickNo, nobody has to do anything
  • What an attacker getsCan take it offline

Severity vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Exploitation

Is CVE-2022-3602 being exploited? Not that we know of.

It is not on the list of flaws known to be exploited today. The latest forecast puts the chance of it being used in the next 30 days at 91%. That can change at any time, which is why we keep watching.

Known to be exploitedNoNot on the list of exploited flaws today
Chance of use in the next 30 days91%Its EPSS score, from the latest forecast

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Record last updated
How Precursor Intelligence ranks it
75out of 100High

CVE-2022-3602 scores 75. Action: Patch now.

We keep the score of every published flaw up to date as the evidence changes. Four things go into the score, and evidence that criminals are actually using it counts most. In order:

  • Evidence it is being exploitedBiggest factor
  • How severe it isStrong factor
  • How widely exposed it isSmaller factor
  • Threat activity around itSmaller factor

85 and above is Critical. Anything confirmed as exploited is always marked for an emergency patch, whatever its score.

When CVE-2022-3602 matches software you track, it lands in your list with its score and the reasons behind it.

See your own ranked list →
Affected products

Who is affected by CVE-2022-3602? 4 products.

The published record lists 4 products from 4 vendors. Versions are shown as published: "3.0.0 to before 3.0.7" means from 3.0.0 up to, but not including, 3.0.7. If you run one of these, check your version, then go to the fix below.

Remediation

How do I fix CVE-2022-3602? Four steps.

  1. Check whether you run itCompare your versions with the affected products above. Not sure what you run? Precursor Intelligence can work it out from your public website, or you can pick it from a list.
  2. Apply the vendor’s fixInstall the update named in the vendor’s advisory. We’ve put the advisory first in the list.
  3. If you can’t patch todayFollow any mitigation the vendor publishes, and limit who can reach the affected system from the internet until the update is in.
  4. Keep an eye on itTrack the product and we tell you as soon as we spot this flaw on the list of exploited flaws, or a jump in its exploit likelihood.

References

40 links
Precursor Intelligence

Does CVE-2022-3602 affect you? We'll keep checking.

Looking flaws up one at a time doesn't scale. Tell us what you run once, and we tell you which flaws matter to you, in what order, and keep watching for new ones.

  1. Tell us what you runPick your software from a list, or let us work it out from your website.
  2. We match it to every flawOver 400,000 published flaws, checked against your list.
  3. Ranked by real-world riskA 0 to 100 score, led by evidence criminals are using it.
  4. Told as soon as we knowAn alert by email, in the app or by webhook to your own tools.
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CVE-2022-3602 is a high-severity flaw in OpenSSL, published on 1 November 2022. It can be attacked from anywhere on the internet without logging in, and nobody has to click anything. If it works, the attacker can take it offline.

It scores 7.5 out of 10 on the CVSS severity scale, which is high. Our risk score for CVE-2022-3602 is 75 out of 100, which is High. Its action is "Patch now". Not confirmed as exploited yet, but serious or likely enough that it should not wait for a quiet month.

It is not on the list of flaws known to be exploited today. The latest forecast puts the chance of it being used in the next 30 days at 91%. That can change at any time, which is why we keep watching.

For OpenSSL: 3.0.0 to before 3.0.7. The record lists 4 products in all, each with its versions, under "Who is affected" on this page.

Install the update the vendor names in its advisory, linked first under "How do I fix" on this page. If you can't patch today, follow the vendor's mitigation and limit who can reach the affected system from the internet.

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